How To Play Short Handed Poker

If you ever played poker online in a full ring game, only to have some of
the players move on later, and leave you with only 2-3 other players in the
game, you know what I'm talking about.

In online poker, where table selection plays an even more important role than it usually does, players come and go, to and from tables at the click of a
button. If they see you playing dominantly and/or extra aggressively,
chances are, they decide they stand a better chance playing at some other
table. In a situation like this, you'll soon find yourself stuck with three
or four other players and you'll notice the game is not the same anymore.
This is what they call 'short handed' game.

As the game speeds up, several things happen. You need to reconsider the
hands you commit on and also the hands you're willing to take all the way
down the stretch. The game will loosen up, an you'll have to act loose
yourself or risk being bullied out of your pot equities time and again. In a
full ring game, you can let others do the betting for you, more often than
not, you'll find somebody willing to do it.

In a short handed game, you'll be forced to take the betting into your own
hands. In that respect, it would be safe to say that short handed poker
is where skill really matters. After all, poker is a betting game, isn't it?
and you can't always expect someone else to do the betting for you.

Loosening down a bit is the first step you need to take, getting more
aggressive is the second. Lowering your hands-standards is the third.
Obviously no matter how well you play, how aggressive you are and how well
you speculate certain situations, you have to be aware of the fact that two
out of three flops won't even hit you with a pair. Many players don't know
this. These guys are going to be your victims.

On top of these, you need to pay attention to one more factor: the speed of
the game. The increased speed means that anything you do will have far
bigger consequences than it usually would. The mistakes you make, will
impact your bankroll harder, but so will good plays that you manage to pull
off.

If you were wondering why starting and showdown hand standards had to be
lowered, the explanation is simple. With fewer people in the game, the
chance of someone showing down a rock solid hand obviously decreases. If you don't believe me, hang around at a short handed online poker table in
observer mode, and see for yourself. In a short handed game hands are often won on as little as a pair or a high-card.

What I told you so far about short handed play seems pretty straight
forward, right? Well...this is the theory. In practice, things are way more
complicated.

It's not enough to simply pick up the pace, bet more, raise more and see the
flop on hands you otherwise wouldn't consider. A skilled short handed player
knows when he has the best hand, knows how his opponents will react, and he also knows when to slow down with the betting and when to up the pace.

Obviously, no poker player is born with all these abilities ready to be put
to work. It takes a lot of practice and a lengthy learning process before
you can call yourself a reasonable short handed player. Until you're no good
at short handed play, however, you can't really call yourself a poker
player, and since short handed play is even more important in online poker,
you're better off sticking with online casinos until you get this part of your game right.

Rookie players who know a few things about short handed play, often feel
overwhelmed by the enormous amount of information they have to deal with in an extremely short period of time. Processing all that information in order
to churn out the right decision is no child's play.

Getting an accurate read on individual opponent is also imperative. You need
to vary your play according to which player you're up against in each
particular hand. By achieving this, you'll also prevent the opposition from
getting a read on you.

by James West

Back to Online Poker Strategy Articles